Episode 32 — The Stevenson Sessions, Part 2: CFO Doug on Modern's Moneyball

Doug Stevenson and his brothers grew Modern Pest Services to $18 million before selling to Anticimex. It would be hard to find a process at Modern in which Doug did not include in a financial system. 

Doug found himself entrenched in cost analysis study after study. It was his tenacity that helped 5x Modern's net income in one year. Adjustable initial service charges and subscription billing helped Modern weather New England seasons. 

With a name like Modern, it's hard to avoid innovation. In the early 2000's, it was Doug who set the bar with PestPac routing & integrations. Doug recounts working with Griffin Pest's Jeff Spencer & Pam Blauvelt integrating VoiceShot with PestPac.

Although driven by spreadsheets and returns, Doug opens up about people, management, and corporate elbows. As structured as Doug is, he says that there is one trait that determines success in a business partnership. What is it?

There are several new buzzwords (-phrases) coming out of this episode :

• Elegant (complex) solutions to complex problems
• Financial predictability to strategic decision making
• ROI makes the world go-round
• Beware of shiny things
• Always more risk in a non-diversified portfolio
• Balance emotions with data

From WIPFLI Partner to Boardroom Buzz guest, Cory Vargo steps into this episode as a guest co-host. It was Doug Stevenson who gets 100% credit for introducing Cory to the pest control industry. Apparently, Doug set a high bar. Cory discusses that high bar as well as Doug's cash after tax black and white decisions.

Cory sticks around to shed light on the deferred revenue black box, cash vs accrual accounting methods, and shareholder partnership issues. He adds his opinion on scaling accounting capabilities with a growing business. 

Co-Produced, Edited, and Mixed by Dylan Seals of hdaudiopost.com